Still alive: Wileyfox gets a second chance

Troubled British smartphone maker Wileyfox has received a lifeline from another British phone-making company, STK.

According to TechRadar, STK will sell Wileyfox smartphones in the United Kingdom, Europe as well as South Africa. There is no word on availability of newer Wileyfox devices in markets such as ours (Kenya) where the company had toyed around with the idea of establishing a presence before the mountain became too steep.

Additionally, according to the same sources, STK is “also working on rolling out the Android 8.1 update to existing Swift 2 range of devices within the next three weeks, ensuring that customers are up to date with the latest software.”

While STK is said to also be honouring warranties and other after-sales services for existing Wileyfox device owners, it is not clear what the plan for that will be for those outside Europe and South Africa who had purchased Wileyfox devices that are still under warranty. There might not be many of those, though, since Wileyfox’s distribution had been largely restricted to the UK and continental Europe at the furthest for its more recent devices.